Audrey wanted to dismiss the strange reflections in her bathroom mirror and the dragon she spotted in a snow alleyway as hallucinations. She'd barely eaten anything in days, so what else could they be?
But that was before she discovered Devlin's Rare and Unusual Book Emporium and suddenly found herself working as an anthropologist for hire while on a quest to track down the source of a mysterious illness plaguing some very unusual clients. On the run from her ex-fiance, out of money, out of luck, and on the verge of becoming homeless, accepting a job offer had seemed like a great idea until she realized exactly how bizarre and dangerous it really was.
Joined on her unexpected mission through the wyrmhole by a flamboyant magician and a brooding swordsman, and hunted by the sadistically salacious Duchess Viridian and her other worldly minions, Audrey was about to learn that some of the most terrible monsters are often the most familiar.
"Would you like to play?" asked the gamemaster.
Her face went through a series of expressions as she attempted to get her brain around the question and its utter normalcy. "Sure?"
Something that looked like a walking stick stood and pointed at its chair before opening a pair of thin wings and repositioning itself upside from one of the ceiling lights.
Audrey did not want to go anywhere near the table or its strange occupants, but she also didn't want to seem impolite. The dragon gave her a rough nudge to get her started. She crossed to the chair and then sat stiffly and looked at the odd game board, which was scattered with various figurines in business suits. Near a river was something that looked like a group of protestors holding signs. Audrey looked closer. It was a group of protestors holding signs. "What exactly are we playing?" she asked.
"Corporate Bandits!" replied the slug cheerfully.
Audrey rubbed her temple and wished she had brought the whisky bottle with her. It promised to be a long night.
About the Author: Celeste Mills first began writing at the age of six when she penned the following work of flash fiction:
Once there was a little bird that could not fly. One day it flew and flew and flew and never came down until it hit the propeller of a big, white airplane.
She has been writing unconventional-albeit significantly longer-fiction ever since.
Mills was raised in a small Minnesota town located north of Minneapolis and enjoys hiking, macrophotography, playing music, and writing.
She holds degrees in Literature, Music Performance, Folklore and Ethnomusicology, and Library Science. After a long week of work, she enjoys starting fires in the back yard of her suburban property and cooking over them when she's not writing.
She currently lives in south central Indiana with her son, husband, and two cats.
